Terry RichardA flock of sanderlings near Leadbetter Point on the Long Beach Peninsula.

Published March 26, 2006

It looked like someone had set wind-up toys at ocean's edge and let them run wild.

As a wave receded, a couple of tiny shorebirds ran across the sand, far faster than their tiny legs should have been able to carry them.

They were sanderlings, the mesmerizing sprites of the surf.

When a spot showed promise of harboring tiny crabs, mollusks or worms, the birds slowed down to peck at the sand.

They couldn't hunt for long, because another wave soon came roiling ashore. The 8-inch-long birds, showing a healthy disdain for being splashed by the frigid Pacific off Washington's Long Beach Peninsula, turned tail and began dashing inland ahead of the wave's leading edge.

Terry RichardWalking the dogs at Leadbetter Point.

Once the wave played itself out, the birds turned around and followed the water back to sea. Then they repeated this, over and over and over. . . .

As I walked along the peninsula north to Leadbetter Point, I saw numerous gatherings of two or three sanderlings.

But where were the huge flocks?

Shorebirds would number in the thousands during spring migration in April, but I expected to find more than just than a few at a time on a sunny but frosty Saturday in late February.

Exploring the point

I began my exploration of the northern tip of the Long Beach Peninsula on its Willapa Bay side. Leadbetter Point is a three-mile-long, one-mile-wide stretch of sand, dunes and coastal scrub forest, with ocean on one side and bay on the other. Managed as a state park and national wildlife refuge, the area exudes one of the strongest feelings of wilderness along either the Oregon or Washington coasts.

I paid a $5 day-use fee to park in Leadbetter Point State Park, one of the last times that will be required, since the Washington Legislature eliminated the unpopular fee last month.

I took a short walk from the parking lot to see the bay's uncharacteristically frozen shoreline. Seeing that much ice so close to the ocean doesn't happen very often in these latitudes.

I tried to hike through the coastal forest to the beach but quickly came to a long stretch of mud. During summer, this is the shortest way to reach the tip of the peninsula. During winter, the trail is impassable without hip waders.

It was not a big setback. I simply walked back to the parking lot, drove across the peninsula toward the beach, parked free in a neighborhood beach access and was hiking again 10 minutes later. Someone who lives there later told me that hikers should begin at the last auto parking beach access on the north end of the peninsula north of Ocean Park.

Golden sand beach

Walking the shoreline to the tip of the peninsula makes for about a 12-mile round-trip hike, rather than eight miles when trails are passable.

I had left Portland the day before with a weather forecast calling for temperatures and wind speeds in the low 30s. So I had arrived at the coast well-prepared, with goose-down parka, long underwear, wool hat and gloves.

I had never felt it so cold on the coast before, but I was able to stay warm through continual movement. There wasn't much choice, anyway.

The Long Beach Peninsula is a wide, golden sand beach, one that Hawaii should be so fortunate to have. The few stumps and trees that had anchored to the upper surf line were 200 yards out of the way because the tide was so far out. It required substantial effort to find a place to sit and hunker down out of the wind.

There was little between me and the tip of the peninsula except flat, wet sand, plus a scattering of feeding birds. The ocean was unusually silent as the sound of the waves crashing ashore was carried back to sea by the brisk east winds.

Terry RichardA clam shell on Leadbetter Beach.

I started walking at 10:20 a.m., sharing the beach with cars and trucks for the first 45 minutes. Vehicles aren't allowed past the wildlife refuge boundary, except when the recreational razor clam season is open.

Along the way I spotted snow-covered peaks on the Olympic Peninsula, then caught a view of Mount Rainier. A bald eagle sitting on the beach took off as I approached.

By 1 p.m. I was as close to the tip of the peninsula as I wanted to be. The entrance to the bay, one of the few Northwest harbors without jetties to ease navigation, was a maelstrom of crashing waves.

I turned back, eating lunch without stopping because I had no place to sit except on wet sand.

The tide had turned, which brought about a change in the behavior of the sanderlings.

Some still chased waves like so many wind-up toys, but others gathered in large flocks and hung out. The numbers weren't as robust as the ones due to come next month, but there may have been as many as 500 birds together.

I returned to my car by 4 p.m., knowing I had been the only person that day to experience one of the most beautiful settings in the Pacific Northwest.

Go there: To reach Leadbetter Point from Ilwaco, Wash., drive 22 miles north on Stackpole Road on the bay side, or on SR 103 on the ocean side. Begin walking from either road's end. Look for Long Beach information at www.funbeach.com.

For a surprise view of the highest mountain in the Pacific Northwest, click on "continue reading the entry.''

Contact me at terryrichard@news.oregonian.com

Terry RichardThe waves come rolling in, but the sanderlings will know when to get out of the way.

Terry RichardThe beach at Leadbetter Point is one of the few places where you can see the summit of Mount Rainier from a Pacific beach.